Adela Oliva Chavez
Pronouns:
she/her
Journalists: Please use these pronouns when appropriate.
Tick-borne diseases, obligate intracellular bacteria, tick-pathogen interactions, host-pathogen interactions, extracellular vesicles, tick feeding, pathogen transmission, vaccine development, tick biology, Anaplasmosis
Assistant professor, Department of Entomology College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Work: 608-263-0834 — Home and cell phones available upon request olivachvez@wisc.edu Home page Twitter: @@chaveztick
Topics
- What makes ticks so good at transmitting pathogens? Tick saliva can diminish immune responses enhancing pathogen establishment.
- Can pathogens manipulate the salivary secretions of their vector? By hijacking extracellular vesicles, they appear to do so.
- Can we exploit tick biology to design better vaccines? Using extracellular vesicles, we are discovering novel vaccine antigens.
- How do ticks adapt to new environments and increase their survival to cold? What is the role of epigenetics in all of this?
Achievements
- Has received several national and international awards, including "Young Scientist Ticks & Tick-borne Pathogens Award" and "Scialog Fellow: Mitigating Zoonotic Threats (MZT)".
- Recognized as "College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Early Career Research" at Texas A&M University, 2023
- Co-author of 2 book chapters, including "Protozoan and Rickettsial Vaccines" in Veterinary vaccines for livestock by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations (UN).
- Quote in "The ticks are winning" in the Atlantic. Appeared in NPR Short Wave and other podcasts, and news outlets.